Project info for Jikes RVM

Jikes RVM (Research Virtual Machine) is a virtual machine for running Java bytecode. Jikes RVM provides a flexible open testbed to prototype virtual machine technologies and experiment with a large variety of design alternatives.

Jikes RVM runs on Linux®/IA-32, AIX/PowerPC, OS X/PowerPC, and Linux/PowerPC platforms and advances the state-of-the-art of virtual machine technologies for dynamic compilation, adaptive optimization, garbage collection, thread scheduling, and synchronization. A distinguishing characteristic of Jikes RVM is that it is implemented in the Java programming language and is self-hosted i.e., its Java code runs on itself without requiring a second virtual machine. Most other virtual machines for the Java platform are written in native code (typically, C or C++). A Java implementation provides ease of portability, and a seamless integration of virtual machine and application resources such as objects, threads, and operating-system interfaces.

Dozens of researchers have found that Jikes RVM provides a useful vehicle for research on the frontiers of virtual machine technologies (several dozen publications), as well as teaching courses.